Hardware

NVIDIA's MSRP for the RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB is set at $380, whereas the 16 GB model comes at an MSRP of $430. Finding the 16 GB model at $430 seems very hard, while finding the 8 GB card at MSRP is much easier, at least here in Europe. In the States, it seems that the GPU market is in a completely broken state. I bought this review sample for €400, including 20% VAT, so €333 without tax, which converts to $382—pretty much matching the MSRP. Considering all the compromises that are needed for the 8 GB card to run well, it's a no-brainer to spend an extra $50 for the 16 GB model, if that can be found for $430. It does look like the 16 GB card's real MSRP is actually $500 and that there is a limited-time rebate for the first shipments to hit the $430 price point. At a $120 price difference, I'd definitely start considering the 8 GB model, especially when money is tight, and the primary screen resolution is 1080p with no focus on ray tracing. As mentioned before, you MUST be willing to adjust the settings. If you don't want to go that route—buy the 16 GB model, or some of the alternatives I'll be discussing next.

AMD's Radeon RX 7700 XT comes with 12 GB VRAM, and offers better performance, especially if you're targeting 4K with no upscaling. With upscaling, the DLSS Transformer model will give you a much better image quality, and 7700 XT will not support the new FSR 4 AI-powered model. Ray tracing without upscaling runs better on the 7700 XT than on the 5060 Ti 8 GB—pretty surprising, considering how weak AMD's RT cores are.